Civil rights should include nonviolence

November 16, 2007

The recent events in Jena, La., have inspired some people to call for a renewal of the civil rights movement. To the extent that this means challenging our society to strive for more equal justice for all, the movement is welcome and necessary. But I do find that one element essential to the original movement is missing in the 2007 version: the clear insistence that those who seek justice must never use violence. Most readers are familiar with the basic facts connected with the "Jena 6" case. Two incidents were key: the hanging of nooses from a tree by white students, and the beating of a white student, Justin Barker, by a group of black students. There are legitimate grounds for questioning whether justice was done. Five of the six were originally charged with attempted murder, although Barker, after a brief hospitalization, was able to attend a school function later that same day. The father of Mychal Bell, the first of the six to be charged, insists that his son did not receive proper legal defense. Parents of other Jena 6 teens also insist that their sons are innocent and were arrested on inadequate evidence. It's also true that many facts are disputed. It was widely reported that the white students received only a three-day in-school suspension, but other reports state that the students in fact were isolated at an alternative school for nine days, then spent two weeks on in-school suspension. Reports that an all-white jury convicted Bell often failed to mention that Jena is 85 percent white, and that several blacks called for jury selection did not show up. Many reports glossed over Bell's previous convictions for violent crimes. The details of other altercations between black and white students, and the justice of the ensuing charges, are again disputed. Whatever the particular merits of the Jena case, it rightfully brings attention to the larger question of whether African-Americans do receive equal justice in America today. There are reasons to believe that they do not. To cite just one example unrelated to Jena: A 1990 U.S. General Accounting Office study of capital punishment concluded that "those who murdered whites were found to be more likely to be sentenced to death than those who murdered blacks." According to Amnesty International, although the number of black and white murder victims is roughly equal, 80 percent of executions since 1976 have been for crimes involving white victims. So the question of legal justice for African- Americans remains very relevant, and unanswered, today. But what I find missing in the appropriate calls for justice is any sense of accountability for the violent attack on Barker. Clearly one young black man did in fact viciously strike Barker from behind, and others repeatedly kicked him as he lay unconscious. The only question is whether the six arrested were the responsible ones. But in my research I have yet to come across a clear condemnation of the attack itself from African-American leaders calling for justice in Jena. On this point, we are a thousand miles away from Martin Luther King and the nonviolent civil rights movement. King taught that before a person protested an injustice, he or she must first undergo a process of self-purification. In particular, the person had to prepare to react nonviolently, even when faced with violent provocation. King's belief was the protester's steadfast refusal to resort to violence would help to persuade the oppressing parties to recognize the evil of their actions, and finally take steps to remedy them. Self-purification through meditation and fasting was also a cornerstone of the philosophy of that other great apostle of nonviolence, Gandhi. He insisted that he could never support Indian independence that had been achieved through violent means. The Jena case offers many opportunities for learning. It should serve to remind us all about the shameful legacy of lynching, and about why a noose is such an offensive symbol to African-Americans. It should reawaken in all Americans, black and white, a greater commitment to equal justice. And finally, it should serve as a reminder of King's legacy of firmly protesting against injustice, but doing so always in a spirit of love and commitment to nonviolence. Martin Albl teaches religious studies at Presentation College. His column appears occasionally in the American News. Write to him at the American News, P.O. Box 4430, Aberdeen, S.D., 57402, or e-mail americannews@aberdeennews.com.